All credit for the Magic Kaito and Detective Conan characters goes to Gosho Aoyama but the other non-recognizable characters in this chapter, mainly the children, are all mine and will be playing their own roles.
Chapter 2: Smoke and Mirrors
"What are you doing here?" we both asked each other at once, though his voice came out significantly louder and clearer.
I could feel as Hakuba's eyes ran over my body. Besides being burnt and bleeding I was still wearing the Kid outfit minus my monocle, cape, and top hat, which had been replaced by the cap. I thought about that and chuckled to myself. That must look ridiculous.
Hakuba got over the surprise quicker than I did. "Grab one or two of the kids." He picked up a girl around three and a boy about ten climbed up onto his back. The boy grabbed hold of Hakuba around the neck instead of the shoulders and I wondered briefly how he was able to breathe.
It was at that point that I noticed, besides Hakuba and a woman not much older than me, the other occupants of the room were children.
I nodded to Hakuba who waited as I lifted up a small girl who faintly resembled the one in the closet, with dark hair pulled back and tears in her eyes.
She desperately grabbed at the hand of another girl around her age. I bent back down to pick the other girl up as well, my right arm protesting as I did. I had to hope I could hold onto them both. It would have been better if I'd put one on my back like Hakuba had but the girls didn't want to be separated, even by so little.
The woman got the oldest, a boy with dark hair and eyes around twelve or thirteen, onto her back. Hakuba moved to the side so that I could take point.
"How bad is it?" The smoke was already starting to fog up the room and left little time for communication.
"Bad." I paused, attempting to raise my voice. "Everyone should hold their breath when we leave." To the woman and Hakuba I added. "Stay close to me."
Hakuba winced as the girl in his arms put his face in his neck. I looked him over more thoroughly this time and noticed his hands and forearms were smeared with blood and severely burned.
As Kid the first question that came to mind was, can you carry her? But it wasn't the question that left my mouth.
"Are you alright?"
"Just get us out of here." He gave me an over-confident smile. He smiled way too much, now that I thought about it. He's always so arrogant and sure of himself, too similar to my own personality to feel comforting…
Even now I was smiling. We both were because we both had a job to do and if we didn't, if the kids saw us unsure of ourselves, we'd lose the illusion that, no matter what, we were going to make it out of this.
I led the way out of the room, Hakuba allowed the woman to get between us so she'd feel more secure. As we exited several of us started coughing as the thick, dark, smoke entered our lungs.
I kept pushing forward, feeling as fire caught on the carpet made its way to my feet and legs. The pants, thanks to dad, were made to be fire-resistant and it made me worry about the others.
I heard the woman stifle a small sound of pain and felt her hand grab the back of my coat. I turned back to her, still moving forward through the fire, and noticed that it was almost impossible to see her.
I swore to myself as both girls in my possession started coughing and trying to push their faces close to my chest.
After what seemed like an eternity of wading through the suffocating fumes we made it to the stairs. The smoke here wasn't any better but the fire had less to eat away at, leaving the path more open.
I made my way slowly down the second step so that neither the woman nor I would fall. If that happened and neither of us had our arms to rely on, it could be disastrous.
With my arm against the wall to keep my bearings we made our way slowly down. When we hit the floor below when we ran into the fireman that must have arrived while I had been searching upstairs.
The first firefighter noticed me and stammered to a halt, unsure of how to react. I handed him both girls with a smile that would have been wider if I would have had the strength to manage it.
"Get them out of here." He looked for a second more before running the girls back down the stairs.
"Follow him." I ordered the woman as another firefighter made his way up. She went over to him and followed him down without a backwards glance.
Hakuba stumbled down the last step and came up coughing. I grabbed the small child out of his hands with some resistance on his part.
"Come on. The next flight should be clear." I reassured him.
I didn't know what to do. My body was in pretty bad shape from all the smoke and I didn't think I'd be able to escape the police. Worse, I didn't have anything hiding my face. The dark hat did little to mask me and once I out of the smoke I'd be vulnerable.
The girl in my arms made me forget all this. Barely old enough to walk she had my coat and part of my shirt clutched in her fists and was looking at me with dark, cream-colored eyes.
Two floors down, safe from the smoke, I unbuttoned my coat and used the inside to wipe some of the soot off her face.
"You're just fine." This time my smile was wide enough, egged on by the large one I received for her, baby teeth shining brightly. She nodded and buried herself deep into my shirt only to peek back up at me.
The childish gestures made me laugh, startling Hakuba.
"Are you going insane now?" He asked, smile strained. He was serious.
I looked down at the few flights left to transcend before putting me head-to-head with the police. I thought of putting the girl down and risking going out the window, the glider wouldn't get enough air.
"Maybe I am." I continued down the steps, every fiber of my being forcing me the other way.
Hakuba sighed before grabbing my shoulder, wincing and drawing back as he remembered that touching things with burned hands was a bad idea. At least he still had nerves in them; it looked like he stuck them into boiling oil.
He put the boy down as he removed his dark jacket and handed it to me.
"I expect it back."
I was surprised that Hakuba had given it to me. I had left my coat with Kudo so I had no way of disguising myself, at least, not if I couldn't reach the clothes I had stashed away in the other building that I had prepared from my escape earlier.
I stared at his outstretched hand, not daring to believe him. If there's one thing that high school taught me, it was everyone had a catch to their generosity. Mostly these thoughts only came up with Aoko and Akako but Hakuba was sneaking in there ever since his call from England, trying to help me with a heist.
I doubted his intentions but put the girl down and grabbed the coat from him and swept it over my shoulders. The sleeves were burned less than mine so they hid the costume pretty well, the smoke did a good job of matching the pants and shoes.
"Why thank you, Hakuba-san. I'll be sure to return it." I bowed slightly to him, my hand at my chest. I was going to keep that act up for as long as I could.
I picked the girl back up and made my way down the rest of the floors as Hakuba repositioned the boy on his back without trying to touch him. Hakuba was wearing a long-sleeve white shirt that had been hidden under his jacket and now had curiously only darkened in the front where it had been open to the smoke but hopefully no one would care about that enough to notice.
Firefighters and police met us at the ground floor, surrounding us in seconds. I took the soot-covered sleeve and wiped it across my face to hide it under something.
One of the firefighters tried to take the girl from me but she refused to let go so he decided he'd grab my arm and help us both out. The little boy was let down off of Hakuba's back but grabbed onto his shirt, a familiar face is more comforting than the masked firefighters.
The noise and clear cold air that hit me when I exited thrilled my senses. The dark, suffocating building had the same amount of impact on my mental state as it did on my physical, allowing my thoughts free access to my situation and the fear had a chance to take over.
I was up and thinking again, no longer clouded by thoughts of worry and fire. I was planning the best way to escape the massive crowd of policemen when a man came running up to me.
"Kei! Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" He grabbed the girl from me who let go reluctantly. He rubbed his face against hers and nuzzled her just to make sure she was real.
"Thank you so much!" He grabbed me with his free hand and hugged me.
It shocked me enough that I wasn't moving when he let me go. "Thank you…Thank you…" I heard him continue murmuring as he held her. I wasn't sure whom he was thanking that point, me or perhaps some God, but it didn't matter. I smiled without any amusement, just real, uncensored happiness.
"Hey mom, that's the bad guy that saved me." I tuned in time to see the eight-year-old girl that I had first come across. She was still wrapped up in my cape with her mother curled around her and her father standing behind them, a gentle hand on his wife's shoulder. The girl was pointing at me. Okay, time to go.
I shrugged my shoulders, hoping neither of her parents cared enough to leave their daughter and follow me as I walked away. Unfortunately a policeman grabbed hold of my arm.
"What she's talking about?" He asked me.
"I have no idea; maybe I just look like a bad guy." I replied easily, trying to slip into a more comfortable state of mind.
"Really?" he continued dubiously.
"Really…" I started coughing again. My lungs were aching and breathing was difficult. I hadn't comprehended how badly I was hurting until I knew the children were safe.
The policeman put a hand on my back and led me over to one of the many ambulances, his tone of voice doing a one-eighty. "You should go to the hospital."
"No" I tried to protest and understood that would only make the situation worse. "My mom will be… worried and she…. doesn't have a… very good heart." I lied through my teeth, that last word coming out more of a cough than anything distinguishable. He seemed to take me at my word.
"We'll get you some oxygen but you really should get yourself checked out by a doctor." I nodded, only just holding onto consciousness.
He sat me on the bumper of one of the ambulances, jumping in to get a tank and mask. I watched through blurry eyes as the building continued to burn. The firefighters were doing everything they could but didn't seem to be altering the blaze. I coughed into my hand, realizing I hadn't bothered to remove the gloves. I noticed blood.
I wiped the side of my mouth and saw the blood smear against the white, probably leaving another trail of soot on my face. Great, the fire must have burned my throat pretty bad. I wouldn't be able to swallow without pain for weeks but on the good side I'd be spending my money on ice cream for a while without feeling guilty.
The man came back with a tank and I hid my hand. He strapped it to my face as I laid my head against the cool metal of the vehicle.
"You should wait a while before you leave, try and take deep breaths." He got out but didn't move very far from me. I felt my eyelids start to droop and shook myself to keep from falling asleep.
A minute later Hakuba was placed next to me and given an oxygen tank as well.
"You didn't leave?" There was genuine confusion in his voice and his smile was gone.
"Hakuba-san, no matter how highly you hold me, I'm not immortal." It was the first time I'd admitted so much to anyone, not even myself, but I was too tired to care. My head fell back against the metal siding.
One of the doctors took a cloth to Hakuba's hands and forearms, a hiss actually escaping him now and then. Bandages were then put on. "We'll have to treat the rest at the hospital." The medic informed him. Hakuba nodded but I noticed he did so while still watching me, he'd been watching me the whole time.
As good as it felt letting the oxygen relax my lungs I couldn't stay with the detective anymore, unless I was willing to accept the consequences if I gave him solid proof of my identity. Which, I was not going to do.
"Hm, you made it out." My adrenaline kicked up a notch as I turned to face Kudo.
"Yes, since I didn't run into you I have to figure that they kicked you out Tantei-kun." He nodded, embarrassment and anger showing on his face before he covered it up and looked at me.
"You didn't get the jewel." In all the excitement I completely forgot that tonight's heist was still laying somewhere in the apartment. If Kudo had been forced out of the burning building, odds were he had retrieved it long ago.
"Too bad, but I think I managed to steal something better." I smiled and looked into the crowd, wondering what would have happened to them if I hadn't come, if I made a difference at all.
Hakuba looked down. "Conan-kun" I heard him acknowledge, this would have been the first time they'd teamed up on a heist if Hakuba had been there. The thought scared me.
Wait a minute.
"Hakuba-san, why were…" my throat constricted and I tasted blood in my mouth. I held back the urge to start coughing again and it felt like I was going to be sick. I really didn't want that to happen with how badly my throat already hurt.
Both of them stared at me, waiting to see if I was going to finish my sentence. The mask hid most of the features of my face but it wouldn't be enough to hide the blood if I opened my mouth. I shook my head as if I had asked as an afterthought. I would have to find out why Hakuba was in that building and not at the heist later.
Kudo was sharper than Hakuba on most given days and immediately picked up on the reality of the situation.
"How long were you in there?" My breathing had been irregular for a while and not being able to answer, even with a trifling remark, left me unable to defend myself.
I settled for shrugging my shoulders. Even with both detectives around me I still felt myself falling asleep. I couldn't keep my head up much longer and my eyes were already closing, blinking them to keep awake only hurt because I had no liquid in my eyes.
Kudo noticed blood running down my right arm. I had barely looked at it since singeing it badly after breaking open one of the doors. He jumped up into the ambulance and tried to pull the sleeve back.
I couldn't hold in a yelp of pain. I grabbed my arm back quickly and held it at my side, protected by the wall. I could feel as more blood started sliding down it. Kudo glanced at me and then the ambulance, making his way inside. Hakuba was looking at me with open sympathy and worry which only made the situation worse. Do not let him know it's you. Don't give him proof.
Kudo came back after a minute with scissors in his hand. "Take off the jacket."
I laughed quietly to myself. "Now why…" I stopped talking as I tasted the blood in my mouth again. Why had I forgotten talking was out of the question at the moment? Hakuba removed his mask, got behind me, and started trying to remove it on the right side with his bandaged hands.
Not being able to rely on my words was a big problem for me. I would have yanked away from him if I hadn't seen how bad his hands were. I sighed mentally, giving in for the time being and removing my arm from the sleeve.
The jacket still covered up most of the suit but someone would notice my strange attire if they cared to look.
Kudo took the scissors and started to cut my white… wait it was black and gray now, sleeve from high up. He then cut in a straight line down the back of my arm.
Carefully he tried to remove the material and I winced. He looked at me and grabbed a bottle of water he had also brought back with him. I hadn't even noticed it before.
Grabbing the material gently and barely lifting, he ran the water down my arm which, at the same time it was soothing, was painful when he pulled.
Kudo only had to do that twice and the material came away smoothly. Looking down at my arm I saw a mess of burns from a patch on my shoulder to one about six inches long near the crook in my elbow, flesh burned badly and blistered in spots.
Hakuba grabbed the bandages from where they were left and handed them to Kudo who proceeded to wrap up my arm.
"Why," I whispered this time so my voice couldn't betray me "do the two detectives who want nothing more than to catch me, want to suddenly help me." I added a smile along with the questions running through my head, not that they could see it. "Want to make be pretty for jail?"
I felt Kudo hit me upside the head, light enough to not cause a headache but hard enough to prove his point. "Because, stupid. Why would they arrest some kid who just saved a bunch of children?"
My blood ran cold. Kid? When did Kudo figure out how old I am? I don't remember him having mentioned it before. I was sure I didn't give anything like that away the few times we'd run into each other.
Hakuba hadn't failed to notice the implications either. Though neither him nor Kudo have been in close contact with one another for prolonged periods of time, both were able to silently communicate something that was going over my head. I didn't like it one bit.
I slipped the jacket back on over the bandages. "Well, thank you Tantei-kun but I must…" I felt as someone sharply pulled back on the jacket as I tried to get up. It made me lose my balance and I fell clumsily back into the ambulance. I heard Hakuba swear has he held one of his hands close to himself.
"We are nowhere near…" Hakuba trailed off for a second. "Where I believe you live and taking the train there would take hours." He dug into his back pocket and came out with a bankcard. "Go get a room in a hotel. Give it back to me when you return the jacket."
I held the card steadily in my hand but my smile wavered. "And why are you offering this to me?" I took the mask off to talk to them since having it on only made my words harder to hear.
"If it makes us both feel better about the situation let's say it's for getting me out of the building. I couldn't have done so without help." He turned away from me, clearly not looking as much at war with himself as I was expecting.
"I appreciate it." I got back up this time without interruption and felt my pants scrape against my raw ankles. I looked over at Hakuba and noticed how his pants had been burned a good four or five inches off. "Let me feel we're a bit more even."
I grabbed the bandages and water from near Kudo and bend down near Hakuba's feet. He tried to pull them away. "It's not necessary."
I grabbed his shoe to hold him still without hurting him, my own ankles screaming in protest from being bent. I took the shoe off and pulled his sock low enough to be able to get at the burns. I then poured the water over it before bandaging them up and replacing them both. I did the same to his other foot.
"Thank you." He had his head turned to the side, more out of embarrassment than anger. I nodded and did the same to my own ankles. Though I had been walking through the fire more than he had, it didn't spread as much because my pants didn't burn.
I turned to them both, unsure of what to say.
"We'll catch you when were on even terms, not when there are people in the way." Kudo said before I could think of something.
"Yes, the game is much more fun when lives aren't at stake." I happily returned.
"But there are always lives at stake…" I barely caught Hakuba's words; I didn't think he'd meant to say them out loud.
"That's not true Hakuba-san, there…"
"Your life is in danger if no one else's." He cut me off.
"Hakuba-san, I'm not going to die."
"If you're not risking your life physically, you're risking you're chance of living. There's not much of a difference in your case." He met my gaze. "I still haven't given up. I never got an answer from you the first time but I'll find out why you're doing this. A thief wouldn't risk his life and the prize to save people who might, or might not, be trapped in a burning building."
He was getting too close to home for me to feel comfortable with.
"I never said I was your conventional thief." I left them, feeling strangely like Hakuba and Kudo both knew more then I wanted them to. I hoped to make it somewhere safe before I passed out or got sick.
As it was, I made it to a hotel two blocks down and paid for the room. I didn't even have the energy to guess what the manager had thought about my somewhat overcooked, mismatched outfit, but Hakuba's card went through so they had no reason to object. Once in the room I passed out on the bed still in the charcoal-blackened clothes.
My dreams that night were filled with fire.
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DISCLAIMER:I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO TREAT INJURIES! ANYTHING YOU SEE HERE CAME FROM GOOGLE AND AS THEY RECOMMENDED, YOU SHOULD GET TO A HOSPITAL IF YOU ARE BADLY INJURED. DO NOT IMITATE ANY OF THE CHARACTERS! (had to put that in just in case)